Northway study in the works; DOT seeks to alleviate I-87 congestion before it worsens

MALTA -- State transportation officials are considering how to address what they say is the looming threat of increased congestion on the Northway in the wake of development throughout the region.

"We see what the conditions are now and the expectation is we will continue to see growth," said Robert Cherry, director of Transportation Planning with the New York State Department of Transportation. "Unless we start evaluating our options now, we will be caught when the need is here."

The DOT contracted an outside traffic consultant to study and create models for traffic on the Northway and Route 9 corridor. The model will be designed to take into account current and projected traffic flows and then show how a variety of methods to deal with congestion could impact traffic.

Expanding the three-lane Northway is not an option, transportation analyst Susan Olsen said. She pointed out that 10 years ago it cost about $1 million per mile for interstate construction, and the cost has only increased.

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"There's just no money for that," she said.

Traffic on the Northway is not at capacity, and compared to other metropolitan areas it is not badly congested, but peak-hour traffic -- from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. -- can lead to delays, particularly if there is an incident or road work.

"Disabled vehicles are the primary reason for delays along the roadway," Cherry said.

However, he outlined a number of active traffic management methods that could alleviate the traffic flow in those situations.

Electronic signs indicating that a lane is closed miles before the actual closure can make for faster and smoother merging. The signs can also be used to reduce speeds from 65 mph on the Northway during an incident to 50 mph, which has been shown to keep traffic moving, albeit at a slower rate, rather than jamming up following an incident.

Cherry presented the preliminary report at a meeting of Saratoga Chamber of Commerce members Aug. 17 in Malta, an area that is partly responsible for the strain on the Northway due to development.

Saratoga Chamber President Todd Shimkus said he thinks it is important for members of the business community to be part of the conversation about traffic in the region.

"We can also start talking to employers with a significant number of employees to see what they can do to help," Shimkus said.

Shimkus said GlobalFoundries, for example, currently staggers employees' workdays to avoid a glut of commuters vying for the same stretch of road to arrive to work at the same time.

"There's a lot of value in modifying start times," Cherry said.

The director noted a study he conducted on Route 146 in Niskayuna. The road was experiencing heavy traffic flows, but when he went to investigate, the traffic count was significantly lower than anticipated. He tested again and found the same result.

Later, Cherry found out General Electric had modified its workday, pushing commuters off peak hours.

Another focus of the study is Route 9, the only other north-south road for commuters traveling through Saratoga County.

Steps that would make Route 9 more efficient for commuting include reducing curb-cuts that serve as entrances to businesses, installing medians to help left-turning vehicles and adjusting stop lights to stay green longer for north-south traffic during peak times.

Additionally, Cherry said more cameras and other devices to monitor the traffic conditions are needed, so when incidents occur on the Northway, commuters can be told to use an alternate route, such as Route 9.

At this point, he said, the DOT avoids sending people to Route 9 because it "would be sending them there blindly and it might be a worse condition."

The three-year study is in its first year and, when complete, Cherry said they will evaluate which systems will be the best to implement.